Category archives: Technology

Fruit flies can make sudden turns similar to fighter jets Fruit flies are capable of sharp turns, like those of fighter pilots, according to researchers studying the ways the insects evade predators. When sensing a threat, the Drosophila hydei flies can execute banked turns at speeds five times faster than when turning normally. Los Angeles […]

Localization, or knowing “where am I” is a central topic of research in mobile robotics today, and it has been like that for more than 30 years. One cannot conceive ordering a futuristic personal assistant robot “go to the coffee machine and bring me a large one” if the robot is unable to know where […]

Irradiated scrap metal helps researchers recreate a supernova Scientists have simulated a supernova with the help of some radioactive waste and a particle accelerator at CERN. Researchers took leftover irradiated scraps of metal containing titanium-44, which is made naturally by supernovae, to produce a beam and sent it into a chamber filled with helium to […]

Salamanders may be getting shorter due to climate change Appalachian salamanders have gotten shorter in the past 50 years, possibly adapting to warmer, drier weather conditions. Researchers compared specimens they collected with those collected by museums from the same areas since 1957. They found that each generation of salamanders in several species grew 1% smaller […]

Iron dust helped plankton thrive during last ice age Plankton gorged on iron dust during the last ice age, causing them to thrive and absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide in the air, according to a study published in the journal Science. Some scientists argue that by seeding areas such as the Southern Ocean in […]

Favorable weather gave rise to Genghis Khan Tree-ring scientists have linked favorable weather patterns with the rise of Genghis Khan and the Mongol empire, according a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, putting a new spin on the history of the Mongols. The steppes had an unusual 15-year period of rain […]

Lone gene determines wing mimicry in butterflies One gene can determine the wing patterns of female swallowtail butterflies, making them resemble a different, and toxic, butterfly species, according to a study published in Nature. The finding adds to the debate over mimicry and how it helps put off would-be predators. A team of evolutionary biologists […]

It has been a long time since we have learned that “going nano” leads to new properties arising from matter. One of those size-dependent properties that promises huge benefits due to its potential applications is magnetism. Magnetic materials are classified according to their susceptibility to magnetic fields into diamagnetic, paramagnetic and ferromagnetic materials, the first […]

The beringia standstill hypothesis A review of genetic evidence suggests that the Native American founding population lived in Beringia for thousands of years before migrating south into North America. And sediments taken from the Bering Sea show that at the time, the region also had woody plants for building fires, and grassland steppes where woolly […]

Beluga whales infected with cat parasites Parasites known to infect cats have been discovered in Arctic beluga whales. Toxoplasma gondii can cause people to go blind. Scientists have issued a health advisory for those in the Western Arctic region who eat beluga meat. BBC News Higgs boson bubbles sent shock waves throughout nascent universe Bubbles […]